Japan, food, daily life

For weeks, my lunch has been udon or natto. I usually work on writing and painting at home, so I always have a simple lunch, and udon and natto are my favorite lunch menus. As I live in Japan, I guess my appetite is becoming more and more like the Japanese.

Udon is said to be the soul food of the Japanese. Children eat chopped udon from an early age, and even when they are sick, they eat it instead of porridge, so I think I know how much they love udon. Udon and Natto are the most common and cheapest things in Japanese supermarkets. Not only Natto in various flavors and sizes, but also Tzuyu, which serves Udon soup, and various garnishes that can be served in Udon, are sold separately, so it is also very attractive that you can buy them cheaply and make them to suit your taste. Today, as soon as it boils up, it is chubby udon noodles with cold water, sliced spicy peppers, and sprinkled Ponce sauce to complete a meal.

I first came across Natto as sushi. Sushi with Natto that was ordered by mistake felt very foreign and was even spat out again after taking a bite because of its slippery appearance and smell. But one day, when a friend in Korea said that Natto is so delicious that he tried Natto again out of pure curiosity, it was the beginning of Natto addiction. Before eating Natto, I searched for “How to enjoy eating Natto” and took a bite with a trembling heart by adding fried eggs and chopped kimchi according to the recipe.

“Well, it’s slippery. It’s really weird.”

I thought I would give up because it was not a good texture, but I emptied a bowl of rice at some point as I took another bite or two because it was such a waste.

‘It’s savory, though.’

After a bowl of natto, strangely enough, I couldn’t sleep at night thinking of natto.

‘I want to eat Natto. I’ll have another lunch tomorrow. How do you want it?’

Now, you can feel the texture of chewing, enjoy the deep-tasting Natto beans more, and sometimes just eat Natto without fried eggs and kimchi.  One pack of Natto is not enough, so they mix two packs into a bowl of rice, so they must be addicted to Natto at this point.Now, my acquaintance tells me to eat more udon and natto when I come to Japan than sushi. Also, Udon noodles, which are famous in Japan, are exchanged as gifts, so I recommend Udon and Natto gifts instead of chocolate or sake that I always buy as a travel gift.

“Try it, once you’re into Japanese udon and natto, you won’t be able to get out of it.”